Selling to large enterprises is hard.
Sales cycles are protracted and unpredictable. Product requirements will be extensive and demanding. You’re selling to multiple different personalities, functions, and agendas. There are purchasing specialists and full-time attorneys on staff. A reorganization can throw your deal into limbo. Or stop it altogether. The inefficiencies and general irrationality of your brand-name enterprise can shake your confidence in corporate America.
Large account B2B sales is hard. And complicated. And endless. And the effort can be fruitless, leaving you spent, frustrated and with nothing to show for months of effort.
So why do it? Because it can be rewarding and incredibly worthwhile, and fundamentally change the company’s trajectory. And weirdly fun.
There will be politics and factions and disorganization. And people that lose if you make a sale and solve a problem, and so become your adversary. But there will be others that get bonuses and promotions because of that same sale and your solution. The contradiction and irrationality are everywhere.
But it’s challenges that make it fun. The strategy and coordination and execution demanded of you and your team is heady stuff. Enterprise B2B sales for a small company can be a crucible, and the pressure can be exhilarating. Successfully executed, it can be a defining moment and the launch of a rocket ship.
Enterprise B2B sales isn’t for everybody. But for some, it can be quite the ride.